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Backwoods (2006)

Average rating

(53%)

Starring:	Gary Oldman \| Paddy Considine \| Aitana Sanchez-Gijon \| Virginie Ledoyen
Director:	Koldo Serra
Studio:	MOMENTUM PICTURES
Run time:	153 mins
Genres:	Thriller
Languages:	English, Spanish
Hearing-impaired:	English
Released:	May 19, 2008

Thriller set in the 1970s starring Gary Oldman. Lucy (Virginie Ledoyen) and Norman (Paddy Considine) are a young married couple who visit a friend (Oldman) in the Basque region of Spain. Their tranquil summer turns to horror when they discover a girl with horribly mutilated hands in the forest. They try to help her by taking her away from the home in which she is locked, but the local villagers, who have to protect the girl, start a pursuit in the forest they know much better than the visitors.

Highest rated reviews

14 out of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 2 stars
Pointless

Angelchaos from from Worthing, England, 6th July, 2008

OK, so i'm disappointed that Paddy Considine is finally in a bad movie. He is one of my favourite actors and you can usually bank on anything he puts his name to. I can only imagine that he and the superb Gary Oldman, really got shafted making this movie. They both try really hard to make this great, but even with both of their considerable talents on show, the movie has no plot. It does have a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere throughout, which makes you feel that something really terrible or dramatic is always around the corner, but you cannot help but feel cheated when there is none. I wonder if the tension is because the actors realised once they were out in the middle of nowhere just what a disaster the whole project had become. It really doesn't help that the two leading females are flat and completely without enthusiasm for their roles. They just come across as moody and spoilt. It's a shame, because it looks the business. Watch STRAW DOGS, FUNNY GAMES or DELIVERANCE instead.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 4 stars
backwoods

A Customer from Liverpool, 4th May, 2009

Ive never really bothered to write a review before. Partly because i really dont get time, partly because there are others better at it than me. But i feel compelled to write one regarding 'Backwoods'. If you want a moody, atmospheric thriller this is the one. I was appalled to find people slated it and 'Empire' magazine doesnt even list it in its online review section! Heres why i thought it was outstanding. Firstly Gary Oldman and Paddy Considine are on form in the acting dept, the movie never fully explains every detail of back story, but thats one of the reasons you wonder whats happening. You jump into the story and make your own assumptions. Secondly it takes cliche scenarios and stands them on their head. Thirdly, the film is beautiful on the eye and the Spanish cast are very convincing, crosses 'Deliverence' with 'Straw Dogs' in an alien environment. And you get confusion, tension and violence in a realistic manner. In my opinion one of the oo,s future cult classics!

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